We’ve covered a lot of the stater record bass in the last 10 years and whenever we get a new report we go back and look at the old records, records from nearby states and more. But it was interesting that there isn’t a place where you can go look at a all the state record largemouth bass. So I thought it would be cool to aggregate photos of the records from every state. While we weren’t able to get all 49 state’s records (Alaska doesn’t have bass), I got most of them through a lot of digging and compiling.
I love to see big bass. And it’s interesting to see what weights hold the records in each state and how diverse the bass are in various states. The photos we were able to dig up on more than 2/3 of the states were pretty eye opening and interesting. It would be very cool to see the back story on some of these older catches and what tricked the state’s record fish into biting. Interesting to see folks from all different walks of life representing state records in largemouth bass fishing around the country. We’ve included links to the stories of the catches where we could as well as their place in the state record book. If you see a state we’re missing and know where we can find the picture of that state record, let us know and we’ll get them added. We just wanted a cool resource for bass fishing folks to go to get motivated to hunt a record in their state.
The Alabama state record largemouth bass was caught in 1987 by Thomas Burgin from Mountain View Lake just south of Leeds, Alabama and weighed 16 pounds, 8 ounces.
For more information, click here.
The Arkansas state record has also stood the test of time. This 16-pound, 8 ounce largemouth bass was caught on Mallard Lake by Memphis angler Aaron Mardis on March 2, 1976.
An interesting side note, an angler broke the record catching a larger fish a while back, but did it without a valid license therefore since the fish was caught illegally it could not be certified as the record. See more about that here. For more information on Arkansas state records, click here.
This behemoth of a bass is the second largest of all the state records and was caught in March of 1991 by Michael Arujo on Castaic Lake. Many believe this is where the next world record bass will be caught.
For more information on California state records, click here.
Jarrett Edwards of the Jarrett Edwards Outdoors television show caught this record largemouth bass in September of 1997 on Echo Canyon Reservoir after reading an article on Carolina rigging. He rigged up his first Carolina rig with a 6-inch hooktail worm and on his very first cast from the bank, he caught this 11.6-pound northern strain largemouth bass.
For more on his catch, check out this post on his Facebook page.
Another long-standing record, this massive 12-pound, 14-ounce largemouth bass came from Mashapaug Lake in 1961.
For more information, visit CT.gov.
Aj Klein caught this state record largemouth from Wagamonds Pond in 2016. It weighed 11.10 pounds and fell for a Strike King Spinnerbait.
For the full story on his catch, read our story here.
This record has a bit of controversy surrounding it. This 17.27-pound largemouth was caught by Bill O’Berry in Polk County in 1986. However, there was a 20.13 pound bass caught on Big Fish Lake in 1923, but it was weighed on a postal scale and while there were witnesses, there was not a Florida biologist on hand to verify, it’s not the officiall record.
You can see more here: https://myfwc.com/news/all-news/record-fish-320/
George Perry’s world record and subsequent Georgia record is obscurely documented and widely debated but it’s the bar to which all state record bars are to set. Perry’s 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth from 1932 has as much legend that follows it as any fish ever caught.
But it’s not without controversy as well. Photos began circulating years ago about Perry with another potential record bass but it seemed to be nothing more than an elaborate hoax. You can read more here.
Some folks may not know that there are largemouth bass in Hawaii. But in January of 1992, Dickie Broyles brought in this 9-pound, 9-ounce largemouth from Waita Res., Kaua’i.
Visit this link to see the record stats: hawaiifishingnews.com/records_d.cfm?ID=89
The second of two women who hold state record titles, Jenifer Schultz, caught this 14-pound, 12-ounce bass from Seven Springs Lake. She caught this giant on a Rebel Pop-R P70 (the original) on 14-pound Berkley Trilene XT and a Berkley Series One 5 1/2 foot pistol grip rod.
As a side note, her son Jesse went on to fish for Indiana University where he won several college fishing events and now works for the MLF Big 5.
See more about her state-record catch here: indianastaterecord.com.
Patricia Zaerr caught this Iowa state record largemouth in 1984 from Lake Fisher that weighed 10.75 pounds. The first of a couple women who hold state record bass honors.
See more here: iowadnr.gov.
In 2008, then 14-year-old Tyson Hallam set the new state record with his 11.8-pound largemouth bass that he caught on a “jig and pig” fishing a strip pit in Cherokee County.
Here is the story on his catch: Kansas Record Largemouth Caught
Fishing a lizard on Highsplint Lake in April of 2019, Mark Ward broke the state record with his largemouth bass weighing 14 pounds, 9.5 ounces.
Check out the full story of his catch here: New Kentucky State Record Bass Caught
In February of 1994, Greg Wiggins was fishing Caney Lake when this massive bass bit. The largemouth bass weighed 15.97 pounds and he was quite proud of his trophy!
More on Louisiana fish records here: Louisiana State Fish Records.
Another young angler took top honors in his state in 2013 when Colton Lambert caught this 11-pound, 6-ounce bass at the ripe old age of 12. He was fishing a weightless worm on a farm pond near his home in Huntington.
Read his full story here: Kid Breaks 30-Year Old Bass Record
Another one of those head-scratcher records where you’re left trying to figure out how a bass got to 15-pounds, 8-ounces in Massachusetts in 1975 and not one has been close since. While angling pressure surely accounts for bass not growing as long or as big, it’s interesting to see the sheer size of this fish so far north. This would be the largest northern strain weighed to our knowledge.
Kudos to Walter Bolonis on this freak of a huge bass. See more about the Massachusetts records here: Massachusetts Freshwater Fish Records
Fishing with tournament partner Jay Carlson, Mark Raveling caught the Minnesota state record largemouth on a Blue Fox Double Spin Buzzer on Oct. 3, 2005. The fish weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces.
This 18.15-pound largemouth bass made for quite the New Year’s Eve celebration for Anthony Denny when he pulled her from Natchez State Park Lake in 1992. The fish was in 2 feet of water when she bit. The biologists that examined the fish found that it did not have any eggs in it and if it had been caught that following spring, the Mississippi record may have been 20 pounds.
See more about that catch here: Record Largemouth Bass.
Marvin Bushong caught this 13-pound, 14-ounce largemouth back in April 1961 on Bull Shoals Lake. He landed the bass even with his reel broke out of the reel seat during the fight that was said to take some 12 minutes.
Bushong was an avid angler who passed some years later when he got tangled in and drown while running trot lines.
Watch this documentary video of his story: Missouri Record Fish Stories
The only record that has been broken thus far in 2021, Brandon Wright caught this 9.575-pound bass out of Lake Elmo near Billings on a live nightcrawler while trout fishing.
See more of the story here: State Record Largemouth Bass Caught While Trout Fishing.
Bob Eisele caught this massive Jersey bass weighing 10 pounds, 14 ounces out of Menantico Sand Wash Pond in 1980 while fishing a white bucktail with yellow Mr. Twister grub on 12-pound line.
See more about his catch here: Bob Eisele’s Record Largemouth Bass
John Higbie caught this lunker bass weighing 11.26 pounds on a homemade spinnerbait fishing a private lake near Otsego County. He had already caught an 8-pounder that fall of 1987 and added this 11-pounder a month later. Not too shabby for one angler in New York.
See more about his catch here: New York State Largemouth Bass Record
William Wofford caught a 15-pound, 14-ounce bass on a Bayou Boogie from a private pond in March of 1991. He was using a Lew’s Speed Spool and a Berkley Lightning rod when the big fish bit. His record has stood for 40 years in a state ripe with quality bass fishing.
See more about his story here: State Record Bass Doesn’t Net Perks
One in evening in May of 1976, Roy Landsberger landed a 13.13-pound largemouth bass from a small private pond in Northeast Ohio on the legendary Arbogast Jitterbug.
See his full story here: Roy Landsberger’s Ohio State Record Largemouth Bass.
Dale Miller of Panama caught this 14-pound, 13.7-ounce largemouth out of Cedar Lake with a Mann’s Alabama Rig and Reaction Innovation Little Dippers.
See the full story here: Oklahoma State Record Caught
Donald Shade caught his biggest largemouth of 11 pounds, 3 ounces in 1982 from Birch Run Reservoir in Adams County and set the bass record that has stood ever since.
Read a great story on his catch here:
Brandon Migliore caught an 11-pound, 3.2-ounce largemouth bass on Johnson’s Pond in Rhode Island April 30, 2016. The bass was caught after dark while fishing with an Arbogast Magnum Jitterbug topwater lure fished near the bank.
Read the full story here: Record Largemouth Caught on Topwater
Mason Cummings tied the state record largemouth in 1993 with his 16-pound, 2-ounce bass he caught on a pond using a purple Texas-rigged worm. He’s tied with PH Flannigan who caught the same sized bass in 1949 on Lake Marion.
See more here: Freshwater Fish Records
One of the more recent state record largemouth catches, Matthew Dunham caught a 9-pound, 5-ounce largemough bass on Indian Scout Lake in South Dakota in May of 2020.
See more here: New State Record Largemouth
Gabe Keen broke a 60-year-old, bass-fishing record in the state of Tennessee when he landed a 15.2-pound largemouth bass on Lake Chickamauga on Feb. 13, 2015.
See the full story here: Tennessee State Record Caught
Barry St. Clair holds one of the most coveted records in the state of Texas and one that has had a bunch of challengers since he set it in 1992. His bass weighing 18.18 pounds was caught in January on Lake Fork. Many biologists are surprised it has not been broken with the amount of teener fish caught in Texas every year.
See more records here: State Fish Records.
Richard Tate holds the record with his bass that weighed 16 pounds, 4 ounces caught out of Connor Lake in May of 1985.
See more records here: Virginia State Records.
Bill Evans landed this largemouth bass that weighed 12.53 pounds from Lake Bosworth on a Strike King Shim-E-Stick in August of 2013.
Full story here: Washington Largemouth Bass Record Broken
Caleb Salzman caught his record 11.51-pound bass from Kleenburn Ponds in June of 2018 when he was just 18 years old.
Full story here: Record Breaking Catch
